Southern California -- this just in

Wrongful death suit by parents of two slain USC students dismissed

February 15, 2013 | 1:36
pm

A Los Angeles judge Friday dismissed a
wrongful death lawsuit filed against USC last May by the parents of two graduate
students who were slain off-campus.

Ming Qu and Ying Wu, both
23-year-old electronic engineering students from China, were fatally shot last April
while sitting in a parked BMW in the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue, less than
a mile from campus. Authorities
say the slayings occurred during a botched robbery.

Wanzhi Qu and Xiahong Fei, Qu's parents, and Xuyong Wu and
Meinan Yin, Wu's parents, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the
university, saying the school misled them when it claimed that it ranks among
the safest in the nation.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge Michael Johnson dismissed
the case, citing insufficient legal arguments showing a connection between the
killings and statements made by the university about the areas surrounding
campus.

“The issue was the judge said, ‘Look, even assuming that the
school made a misrepresentation of the safety in that surrounding area, that
misrepresentation did not kill the students. What killed them were [the
suspects] in the area at the time,’ ” said Alan Burton Newman, the attorney for
the parents of Qu and Wu, relating the proceedings.

Newman said he planned to appeal.

“If it wasn’t for the misrepresentation,
the students wouldn’t be there," he said. "And the misrepresentation is still there."

The lawsuit alleges that USC inaccurately claimed on its website that it
"is ranked among the safest of U.S. universities and colleges, with one of
the most comprehensive, proactive campus and community safety programs in the
nation." The suit notes that USC says it provides 24-hour security on
campus and in surrounding neighborhoods.

The suit says USC "provided no patrolling" in the neighborhood
where the shooting occurred. After the killings, USC persisted with a
"clearly misleading" portrayal of safety, reiterating in a letter to
the campus community that crime "is low compared to other areas of Los
Angeles," according to the lawsuit.

USC attorney Debra Wong Yang said the university is
"deeply saddened by this tragic event, which was a random violent act not
representative of the safety of USC or the neighborhoods around campus. While
we have deep sympathy for the victims' families, this lawsuit is baseless and
we will move to have it dismissed."

She also said that the university security net can stretch only so far and
that the killings occurred three-quarters of a mile from campus in the third
tier of security, where officers respond to incidents but do not patrol.

Bergman said his
clients were open to dropping the lawsuit if university officials agreed to
change their website statements regarding the areas surrounding campus.

After the killings and the shooting of a robbery suspect by a USC security
officer, LAPD Chief Charlie Beck announced that he would add 30 officers to the
station that patrols USC's surrounding neighborhoods. Heightened security measures by USC –- more
surveillance cameras and late-night visiting rules -– rolled out after a Halloween shooting
on campus left four wounded.

The Adams-Normandie neighborhood where the April slayings occurred ranks 27th out of 209 L.A.
neighborhoods for violent crime, putting it in the top 20% of most violent
areas, according to a Times analysis of crime data.

Bryan
Barnes and Javier Bolden, both 20, are awaiting trial on murder charges for the
slayings of Qu and Wu. They will possibly face the death penalty, if convicted. Their next
court appearance is scheduled for March 13, 2013.